Roughnecks get third crack at Amarillo

Jonathan HullMidland Reporter-Telegram

Published 5:19 pm, Sunday, June 27, 2010

Is the third time really a charm? The West Texas Roughnecks are certainly hoping it is.

The Roughnecks (7-7) finished the 2010 Indoor Football League season with a fury, winning four straight games and five of their last six to clinch the seventh seed in the IFL playoffs. They will face the Amarillo Venom (11-3) at 7 p.m. today at Amarillo Civic Center.

"We were able to achieve one of our main goals this season," West Texas coach Chris Williams said, "and that was reaching the playoffs. We are entering the postseason playing very good football from all aspects of the game."

However, West Texas is pitted against an opponent it hasn't beaten this season. The Venom routed the Roughnecks in their first two meetings of the season, 53-27 and 55-33, with the most recent defeat coming on March 27 at Amarillo Civic Center.

But that was 10 games ago for West Texas and 12 for the Venom. Williams believes the Roughnecks enter Monday's battle a more refined team.

"I think we're a different team," he said. "That was two of the first games of the season. We were making careless mistakes like mishandling snaps. We are a different team personnel-wise."

During their four-game winning streak, turnovers have been at a minimum for the Roughnecks and they're coming off their most impressive performance of the season -- a 75-32 victory over Corpus Christi.

West Texas dominated Corpus Christi in every phase of the game. Quarterback Tommy Jones threw three touchdowns with no interceptions and the Roughnecks committed just one turnover -- a fumble that didn't come back to haunt them -- while forcing four turnovers by Corpus, three of which were returned for touchdowns.

"I'm happy to see that we're playing turnover-free football and we are going to have to do the same against Amarillo," Williams said. "They have an explosive offense with talented players at quarterback, running back and wide receiver. It will be key for us to win the turnover battle."

In their first two meetings, Jones was intercepted a total of six times, while the Roughnecks forced just one turnover in both matchups combined.

The mishaps allowed Amarillo to build sizable leads as its running game gutted the West Texas defense for 199 and 134 yards, respectively.

"We had trouble defending the run against Amarillo," Williams said, "but I believe we have improved in that area."

While the Roughnecks are finally getting the results they've been striving for all season, the Venom went through a tough stretch to cap the regular season, dropping two of their last three games, including a 60-50 loss to San Angelo last week.

Williams doesn't find it far-fetched to believe the Roughnecks will be advancing to the next round of the postseason.

"The key for us is to continue working hard and execute on both sides of the ball," he said. "We feel very confident going into this matchup."

WEST TEXAS AT AMARILLO

When/where: 7 p.m. today, Amarillo Civic Center

TV/radio: MyTV16; BOB FM 95.1

Records: West Texas 7-7, Amarillo 11-3

Last game: West Texas 75, Corpus Christi 32 on June 19; San Angelo 60, Amarillo 50 on June 19.

Last meeting: Amarillo 55, West Texas 33 on March 27.

Notes: The West Texas Roughnecks are making their first postseason appearance as a member of the Indoor Football League. The last time the Roughnecks were in the playoffs was 2008, when they lost in the semifinals of the Intense Football League postseason. ... Competing with the Amarillo Venom did not come easy for the Roughnecks at the beginning of the season, racking up two losses to the Venom in their first four games. The Venom boast one of the best offenses in the IFL, scoring more than 50 points a game and averaging more than 250 yards of total offense per contest as well. ... The Roughnecks are trying to ride the momentum of a four-game win streak into today's game and are coming off their most impressive win of the season after pounding Corpus Christi 75-32 last week. ... Roughnecks linebacker Eric Henri was named to the All-IFL Special Teams unit as a first-teamer on Thursday. Henri led the Roughnecks with 80 tackles and was second on the team with three interceptions.